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The Green Room: Anish Jethmalani and Tina Muñoz Pandya

June 18, 2025

The Green Room
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Welcome to Episode 15 of Writers Theatre's podcast - The Green Room. Each episode, we'll be joined by some of the industry's most illustrious artists for intimate conversations about art, theatre, and the world around us.

Today, we're joined by Anish Jethmalani and Tina Muñoz Pandya, two of the actors in ⁠⁠⁠⁠Dhaba on Devon Avenue⁠.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Anish and Tina talk about the father-daughter relationship at the heart of the play and what it means to finally bring this story to the stage after many years.

Featuring

Anish Jethmalani

Guest

Anish returns to Writers Theatre where he previously appeared in The Caretaker and To the Greenfields Beyond. Chicago credits include The Lehman TrilogyCampaigns Inc.OsloIn the Next Room or The Vibrator PlayA Disappearing NumberInana, and Blood & Gifts (TimeLine Theatre); Wit and A Christmas Carol (The Goodman Theatre); Titus AndronicusWater by the SpoonfulMary StuartThe Invention of Love and Life is a Dream (Court Theatre);  Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad ZooAround the World in 80 Days, and Sita Ram(Lookingglass); as well as various productions at Chicago Shakespeare, Victory Gardens, Remy Bumppo, A Red Orchid, and more. Regional credits include Henry VII and Much Ado About Nothing at The Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Film and television credits include Deli Boys (Hulu), Station Eleven (Max), 61st Street(CW), Chicago PD (NBC), Chicago Med (NBC), APB (Fox), Boss (Starz), Leverage (TNT), Empire (Fox), Early Edition (CBS), Batman vs. SupermanGirl on the Third FloorAnimals and more. He is a company member of TimeLine Theatre.

Tina Muñoz Pandya

Guest

Tina Muñoz Pandya is an actor, musician, and teaching artist whose Chicago credits include: The Matchbox Magic Flute (Goodman Theatre); London Road and The Tall Girls (Shattered Globe Theatre); The Secretaries (First Floor Theater); Anna in the Tropics (Remy Bumppo Theatre); Mr. Burns (Theater Wit); The Mousetrap (Court Theatre); and Octagon (Jackalope Theatre). Regional and touring credits include: The Matchbox Magic Flute (Shakespeare Theatre DC, Berkeley Rep); As You Like It and The Old Man and the Old Moon (Door Shakespeare); Matt and Ben (Penobscot Theatre); House of Joy (St. Louis Rep); The Merry Wives of Windsor and Henry IV Pt 1 (Montana Shakespeare in the Parks); and HMS PinaforeThe Pirates of Penzance, and The Mikado (The Hypocrites). You can also hear her on the Chicago-based audio dramas The Vanishing Act and Fawx and Stallion. Tina is an ensemble member with Shattered Globe Theatre and is represented by Gray Talent Group.

Bobby Kennedy

Host

Bobby Kennedy is the Director of Artistic Development at Writers Theatre. He has been the resident dramaturg at the theatre since 2008 and has led the theatre's new work program since 2014. Highlights of his tenure include the world premieres of Manual Cinema's Christmas Carol, Wife of a Salesman by Eleanor Burgess, Dishwasher Dreams by Alauddin Ullah, Witch by Jen Silverman, Trevor by Dan Collins and Julianne Wick-Davis, and Death of a Streetcar Named Virginia Woolf by Tim Sniffen; the national premieres of Quixote: On the Conquest of Self by Mónica Hoth, Claudio Valdés Kuri, and Georgina Escobar, and The Dance of Death by Conor McPherson; and the Chicago premieres of Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812, A Distinct Society, Tiger Style!, Athena, The Last Match, The Niceties, Smart People, and Marjorie Prime. In addition to his dramaturgy work at WT, his credits also include the world premieres of Give It All Back (SideShow Theatre Company), Body and Blood (The Gift Theatre), Ibsen is Dead (Interrobang Theatre Project) and The Peacock (Jackalope Theatre Company), as well as the midwest premiere of The Luck of the Irish (Next Theatre Company). Kennedy co-founded The Spontaneous Theater Project in Boston and has also worked with Huntington Theatre Company and New Repertory Theatre. He is an alumnus of Boston University.

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Dhaba on Devon Avenue

Jun 19, 2025 - Jul 27, 2025

Dhaba on Devon Avenue

Jun 19, 2025 - Jul 27, 2025